And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

204. There are lights that are allowed to arrive (al-wusool) and lights that are allowed to enter (ad-dukhool).

205. Sometimes lights come upon you and find the heart stuffed with forms of created things (suwarul aathaar); so they go back from whence they descended.

206. Empty your heart of alterities (al-aghyaar) and you will fill it up with gnostic intuitions (al-man’aarif) and mysteries (al-asraar).

207. Do not deem His giving to be slow; but rather, deem your approaching to be slow.

208. It is possible to fulfill some obligations at times, but it is impossible to fulfill the obligation of every moment, for there is no moment wherein Allah does not hold against you a new obligation or a definite matter. So how can you fulfill therein someone else’s obligation when you have not fulfilled Allah’s.

209. The part of your life that has gone by is irreplaceable, and that which has arrived is priceless.

210. You have not loved anything without being its slave, but he does not want you to be someone else’s slave.

211. Your obedience does not benefit Him, and your disobedience does not harm Him. It is only for your own good that he commanded the one and prohibited the other.

212. His Sublimity is not increased when someone draws near to Him, and His Sublimity is not decreased when someone draws away from Him.

Chapter XXIII, next